Berrien, St. Joe set for title bout

November 07, 2008|By BOB OPPENHEIM Tribune Staff Writer

EDWARDSBURG -- The St. Joseph and Berrien Springs volleyball teams needed just three games on Thursday to claim Class B district semifinal wins at Edwardsburg High School. The Bears upended Buchanan, 25-21, 25-21, 25-19, while the Shamrocks turned back Edwardsburg, 25-22, 25-11, 25-21. The district championship match between St. Joseph (27-19-4) and Berrien Springs (32-9-3) will take place Saturday at 10 a.m. at Edwardsburg. It will be the first meeting this year between the Bears and Shamrocks. St. Joseph 3, Buchanan 0: The Bucks (33-13) squandered a 15-11 lead in game one and a 20-15 lead in game two. "We just couldn't finish it," said Bucks coach Lisa Holok. "Our confidence died down at the end." St. Joseph's Dakota Brock was a big reason why Buchanan couldn't hold on to its leads. Brock finished with 17 kills and came up with several key plays during the match. St. Joseph took the lead for good in game one at 20-19 on a kill from Brock. In the Bears final five points of game two, Brock had three kills and a key hit that rolled over the net and in between two Buchanan players. Brock's kill won game three and the match for St. Joseph. "Dakota's been our go-to girl all year long," said St. Joseph coach Tessa Wolf. "She's a senior and she just leads the team verbally and stat-wise. She's an all-around awesome player and we're going to miss her next year." Courtney Miller and Audrey Oake each finished with six kills to lead the Bucks offensively. Kills: Dakota Brock (SJ) 17, Melanie Merchant (SJ) 10, Erin Virgil (SJ) 4, Kathryn Snyder (SJ) 3, Courtney Miller (B) 6, Audrey Oake (B) 6, Anna Callahan (B) 3. Blocks: Rachel Briggs (B) 3, Callahan (B) 2, Oake (B) 2. Aces: Merchant (SJ) 5, Brock (SJ) 3, Jayme O'Bryant (B) 1, Alexis Lenox (B) 1. Assists: Merchant (SJ) 22, Lenox (B) 28. Digs: Jessica Keigley (SJ) 13, Rachel Downs (B) 10, Miller (B) 5, O'Bryant (B) 4. Berrien Springs 3, Edwardsburg 0: The Shamrocks didn't trail in this match until the third game when the Eddies took a 5-4 lead. That deficit didn't last for long as Berrien Springs responded with a 14-3 run to take an 18-9 lead. "We've seen Edwardsburg a couple times this year, so we knew who their go-to girls are," said Berrien Springs coach Katie Garber. "We just keyed in on them and we did a good job of closing in on our blocks." The Shamrocks beat the Eddies twice during the regular season with each match going four games. Berrien Springs got a lot of its offense from Allison Zandarski, who finished with 13 kills. "She really showed up tonight and when she shows up, we're hard to beat," Garber said. "She's a great player who owns the net." Edwardsburg stayed close with Berrien Springs in game one but couldn't sustain solid play. Hailee Leitz's kill clinched the opening game for the Shamrocks. "I don't think we showed up right from the start," said Eddies coach Sarah Cichowicz. "In the first game we competed at times, but it wasn't who was here on Tuesday (in an opening round district win over Dowagiac). That's what we've been struggling with all year. I've got an inexperienced team and they don't know how to play steady yet." Kills: Allison Zandarski (B) 13, Autumn Nelson (B) 6, Erica Haygood (B) 3, Elise Mackling (E) 6, Emily Kozinski (E) 3. Blocks: Zandarski (B) 2, Ellen Miller (E) 2. Aces: Katherine Knuth (B) 3, Raechel Zahrn (B) 2, Hailee Leitz (B) 2, Maddi Mueller (E) 2. Assists: Jeana Marrin (B) 13, Amelia Breslin (E) 9, Jennifer Mackling (E) 9. Digs: Zahrn (B) 9, Nelson (B) 7, Mueller (E) 3, Christina Hans (E) 3.